some of his utterances were anything but suggestive of soothing or
pleasurable sensations.

The hill mina, a mountaineer by birth, seldom lives long in
confinement in lowland districts. After having endeared himself to his
master and his family by his conversational powers and imitative
qualities, he is not unfrequently cut off suddenly by a fit, and
sometimes expires while feasting on his bread and milk or
pea-meal-paste, or perhaps when he has only a few minutes before been
calling out loudly his master's name or those of the children. The
hill mina is a handsome bird, a size larger than our black-bird; he is
of one uniform colour--a glossy black, like the smoothest Genoa
velvet, harmonising beautifully with the bright yellow circle of skin
round his eyes, his yellow beak and yellow legs.

The grackle or salik, which is a great favourite in the Isle of
France, has been correctly enough described in _Partington's
Cyclopædia_. It is a gregarious bird, greatly enlivening the aspect of
the grassy meadows at sunset, when his comrades assemble in large
flocks, and having picked up their last meal of grubs and
grasshoppers, resort for shelter to a neighbouring avenue, where they
roost for the night. The grackle is a tame and familiar bird, and will
sometimes build its nest close to the habitation of man. I have seen
one on the top of a pillar, under the shelter of a veranda; and
occasionally an earthen-pot is placed for its accommodation in the
fork of a neighbouring tree. Though their brood may be constantly
removed, they will return, year after year, to the same nest,
expressing, however, their discontent and distress when robbed, by
keeping up for some days a loud and querulous chattering.